Good AM2 motherboard w/o SLI or Crossfire

[mwaddoups]

I have been planning to upgrade soon and due to the fact that AMD will be releasing their 65nm processors tomorrow I have been looking at some of the AM2 motherboards available. Does anyone know of any motherboards that overclock well but are not SLI/Crossfire as this adds cost - something similar to the DFI Lanparty Ultra-D for socket 939, but for AM2? I had been planning to get the Ultra-D, before realising that Socket 939 processors will stop by Q2 2007 and support will probably end around then - I don't see the point in investing in a deprecated platform. Thanks.

 

[ATIonion]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128321

not a bad mobo for the money, tho it does have sli..but for under $100 it has a load of features...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127008

i have installed these before and they work nice...they also overclock good too...took a 3500+ from 2.2 to 2.75 with this board..the asus the 3500+ was on before clocked from 2.2 to only 2.5....

those are under $100, but what price range are you looking, for the mobo??

 

[i_am_mustang_man]

do you already have the am2 processor? otherwise, i would recommend C2D

 

[mwaddoups]

Since I'm in the UK I'm looking for between £50-£60, so up to $100 would be a good price range. I do not have a AM2 processor at the moment - I'm only wondering because if the 65nm AMD processors perform as well as the C2D I would prefer AMD - chances are they will be cheaper as well.

 

[ATIonion]

Since I'm in the UK I'm looking for between £50-£60, so up to $100 would be a good price range. I do not have a AM2 processor at the moment - I'm only wondering because if the 65nm AMD processors perform as well as the C2D I would prefer AMD - chances are they will be cheaper as well.

does AMD plan on putting those new chips on the AM2 boards??...i thought word was a AM3 board for the new line....

 

[mwaddoups]

From what I read, the 65nm are being put in AM2 - K8L/AM3 isn't planned til the end of 2007/beginning of 2008

 

[DaMulta]

AM2+ is comming next which a AM2 chip will work in it, then the AM3 chip will come out and a AM2+ chip will work in it aswell.

 

[i_am_mustang_man]

with c2d ocability, and new quadcore tech being compatible with the mobos (afaik), i would recommend intel over amd here. if you are amd diehard tho, then taht's good too, there is litle game performance diff, but in other apps, the diff can get to be pretty big.

 

[mwaddoups]

Just out of interest, would any of you recommend sticking with socket 939 - this would be a lot cheaper, and I could just get a DFI Lanparty NF4 Ultra-D to OC my processor with and some more ram.

 

[ATIonion]

Just out of interest, would any of you recommend sticking with socket 939 - this would be a lot cheaper, and I could just get a DFI Lanparty NF4 Ultra-D to OC my processor with and some more ram.

hard to say....depends on what is available for the 939 still....but i will tell you this...the AM2 has very little to gain except in the RAM..the RAM is ddr2800 instead of ddr400...

 

[stevorob]

I would upgrade to AM2 if you're building a new system. AMD seems to be phasing 939 out, so it would be a waste to build a new 939 system.

I was going to build 939 a few months ago, but the cost difference in AM2 is negligible... it was an extra $50 for an AM2 setup over the 939, and you have DDR2 and future support.

 

[mwaddoups]

I'm not building a new system however - I was planning to simply upgrade my current system (see system specs at left) so simply buying a new motherboard and eventually some more RAM would be a LOT cheaper than new ram, new processor, new motherboard.

 

[ATIonion]

I'm not building a new system however - I was planning to simply upgrade my current system (see system specs at left) so simply buying a new motherboard and eventually some more RAM would be a LOT cheaper than new ram, new processor, new motherboard.

true, but if you are going to upgrade, a new mobo prob. wont give you a whole lot more then what you have...you maybe able to clock a little higher, but is it worth the money? you could do what i have done the last few months and keep your system as a server or theater pc and slowly start a new build....

i would hate to see you do what i did and buy a new better mobo expecting it to run everything a lot better...it didnt do all that much really...

 

[pt]

get this one:
DFI Infinity ULTRA II-M2
100$ or less, and overclock a lot

 

[stevorob]

I'm not building a new system however - I was planning to simply upgrade my current system (see system specs at left) so simply buying a new motherboard and eventually some more RAM would be a LOT cheaper than new ram, new processor, new motherboard.

Oh ok, I thought you were thinking of a complete system... In that case, not sure what to say...

IF it were me, I would save up and just build a new system instead of upgrading my old one. I was going to upgrade my old one with more RAM, but realized in the long run it wouldn't be as cost effective to buy a new system. I figured that the RAM would buy me a few months before having to upgrade again, so I just saved up an extra month and built an entire new system.

 

[mwaddoups]

OK, sounds like waiting and saving is the way to go. Thanks for all your help!

 

[stevorob]

That's definitely a better route. If you were thinking of a new mobo + more ram, you're looking at ~$250-300. That'll buy you a few months of hapiness, then you'll want to upgrade again.

New system can be built for ~$1000 and will last you at least 2 years. I'm pretty happy with my system, and I'm glad that I didn't waste the money upgrading my old one.